Marooned
by Anime Disney
Summary: (Post-S8 One-Shot) After the paladins' annual trip to New Altea goes south, Pidge and Lance find themselves stranded on a remote planet with any hope of rescue far off. They work to make themselves comfortable, but Lance can tell something's been on the former green paladin's mind. What's a friend to do but ask and help however he can? Platonic Plance & Hidge/Punk


**Who felt the urge to write another fic instead of updating the one they already have? This author!**

**In all seriousness, this is my first Voltron fic, so I hope you enjoy it. It takes place post S8, and follows Lance and Pidge marooned after an unexpected incident during the paladins' annual trip to Altea. A deep conversation between friends ensues as they try to pass the time. Both of them are in their late 20s. Platonic Plance & Hidge/Punk.**

**I do not own _Voltron: Legendary Defender._**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Hello? Is anyone out there? This is Katie Holt, former paladin of Voltron and commander of the Galaxy Garrison. My friend and I are marooned and need assistance and pickup. Does anyone copy?"

She waited, but her barely-intact communicator only responded with the standard beeps and clicks. After about a minute, she gave it another shot. "This is Pidge contacting the ship _Rhea. _Come in." A few seconds. "Hunk?...Shiro?...Keith?"

The young woman's heart sunk a bit as the channel remained silent. Sighing, she checked all the components once more. The device had gotten pretty busted in the crash, but it seemed she had managed to repair it just fine. Its operation wasn't the problem - it was its range. A hand-held communicator was only meant to cover so much ground, after all. If Pidge had more resources, she could have probably stretched its capacity to the edge of the star system, but the materials just weren't available.

As to how she'd stumbled into this predicament, it really wasn't all that complicated, but that didn't make it any less frustrating.

* * *

The paladins had been traveling to New Altea for Allura's Day - an annual tradition for them. It had been twelve years since they'd saved the universe, since they'd lost the Altean princess, and it had been eleven years since the Lions had left and the five of them had retired as defenders of the universe. The day served as a time for them and Coran to honor Allura's memory and reminisce on old times that had made them into the family they were today. If Pidge was honest, it had become her favorite time of the year. All of them obviously talked on a regular basis, but with the different paths they'd chosen, it was a rarity for them to be in the same place at once. Herself and Shiro still worked as higher-ups at the Garrison, him in administration and her, obviously, in the labs and science departments. Keith would occasionally drop by for a few days to relax or even teach a few extra combat classes, but besides that, he was usually galaxy-hopping with the Blades and their humanitarian efforts. As for the other two, they didn't even work in the space business (Is that what they did? She wasn't sure) anymore - Hunk had his own restaurant now and Lance kept at work on his family's farm, so they were plenty busy regardless. Still, despite the distance, they all still remained as close as they always were, maybe even closer. They could all be doofuses sometimes, but the guys were her comrades, her friends...her family. When she was younger, before Kerboros, she'd never imagined having a relationship like theirs with anyone. Now, she couldn't imagine life without them. They were her brothers. Well, excluding Hunk, whom she was married to and therefore had his own category.

Anyway, just because universal peace was declared didn't necessarily mean that there weren't still some trouble spots and factions. Small pirate gangs weren't uncommon in the smaller systems, but they usually turned tail and ran at the first sight of any authority ships and members were usually amateur and quickly arrested. As a result, the Coalition, while still containing the problem, didn't take them so seriously.

And that was the problem their group had run smack into.

In actuality, the gang that sprung on them was not that different from all the others, but there were some deciding factors that ultimately worked against them. The pirates were small in number, though fairly skilled - the members could definitely handle themselves in their fighters, but they weren't military warriors or anything like that - and were looking to pick a fight with the Voltron paladins to earn some street cred. A few years ago and under different circumstances, the rogues wouldn't have even posed a problem. However, the ship that Pidge and the others were traveling in, the _Rhea, _was a diplomatic vessel, so it didn't have much besides the basic self-defense cannons and three mini-fighters in the bay. To add onto that, the last thing the paladins had expected was to get jumped, so their counter strategy was less than organized. It had been forever since any of them had seen real combat, so it was safe to say they were rusty. Still, a bit of their war-time instincts kicked in. Hunk and Shiro manned the bridge, trying to set up a wormhole out, while the other three immediately jumped into the minis down below in an effort to scare the attackers off. Pidge quickly found that she wasn't as much of a help as Keith or Lance. Unlike the two of them, the only thing she'd ever actually piloted was Green, and flying a mere fighter was a bit different than a magical robot lion connected to her soul. Still, she managed, and it looked like things were going their way when the wormhole finally opened. As _Rhea _had charged forward, Shiro called the three of them back.

She had just begun to turn around when a large jolt shook the whole fighter, a feeling she unfortunately recognized - she'd been hit, and the immediate warning sirens in the cockpit told her it was bad. "I'm hit!"

"What the quicknak is up with...Ahh!" Lance's screams on the com told her she wasn't the only one in trouble.

"Hold on, guys!" Keith grunted distressingly. "They're swarming me! I can't get to you!"

"Just get in the ship, Keith, we'll cover you." Shiro was using his captain voice now - a distressed calm. "Pidge, Lance - we can't abort the wormhole jump. You need to…"

Just like that, his voice was cut off and the com went dead. The flashing red screens in front of her and the ship's shaking indicated that she was being pulled in by the nearby planet's gravity. As she gripped her seat tight, Pidge looked out her front shield at the _Rhea, _growing further away with only its stern visible from outside the wormhole, a few blasts being shot from both sides. She didn't see Keith or Lance. She tried a few more strained calls on the com, but her vision was starting to spot from the Gs she was feeling. One last panicked thought entered her head at the reality of a crash, and she wrapped her arms around her torso, bracing for impact.

When she woke up on the ground, Lance was calling her name. Thankfully, the fighter's stabilizers had made the crash a lot less catastrophic as it could have been, leaving her with only a few sore places, bruises from her harness, and a splitting headache. As she climbed out of the cockpit, she spotted Lance moving towards her position through the trees. He had an obvious limp as he walked and a few scrapes on his face, but he looked relatively fine. Miraculously, they'd not only managed to crash land near each other, but on a pretty mild planet similar to Earth or Olkarion - a stroke of luck that was pretty rare to them. After grabbing what materials they could from the wrecks and walking for an hour or so, they found a cave to take shelter in. At the time, the only communicator they had was busted, and the fact that the others hadn't come for them yet suggested that the _Rhea _had been damaged to the point of not being able to wormhole jump back. So...all they could do was wait and survive as best they could until help arrived.

* * *

A giant pounding in her head tore Pidge from her thoughts, and she put the communicator down to message her forehead. The headaches she'd been having before the trip were bad enough, and the maybe minor concussion did not help matters. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her elbows on them. Eyes closed, she repeated in her mind, _At least we didn't land on a lava planet, at least we didn't land on a lava planet, at least…_

"Everything okay?" She jumped and spun to see Lance standing next to the fire, looking at her questioningly.

Blinking and letting out a sigh, she said, "Yeah. I've been trying to reach the others."

"You got it working? Any luck?"

"Well, I've only been able to increase its range to about 300,000 miles, so not really."

Her friend stared at her for a second before surprisingly letting out a chuckle. "You say that as it's not a great feat of programming."

"Well, feat or not, that's only about the distance between Earth and its moon, so the only way anyone would hear us is if they were passing right by the planet."

She didn't mean for her frustration to come out so much in her words, but it apparently did, because Lance let out a small, "Oh." He quickly put a smile on however, and held up the small bag he'd been carrying. "Well, at least we're gonna have a feast while we wait to be rescued!"

His sudden enthusiasm managed to get an inquisitive smirk and raised eyebrows from the green paladin. "What exactly did you find?"

Sitting next to the fire, Lance began to pull all kinds of vegetation out of the bundle. "Well, I didn't really have anything to catch animals with, so this cave is going to be strictly vegetarian for now. I got quite a selection though."

As Pidge moved closer, she looked over what he'd brought. Some of it actually looked like it could be good, but other pieces had colors that didn't look very consumable. "You're sure that all of this isn't poisonous right?...And edible?"

Her question put a sour look on his face as he now examined his load wearily. "I mean, probably…" He looked up at her. "You're married to Hunk, chef extraordinaire, and your mom's a literal botanist. Shouldn't _you _know what's not gonna kill us?"

"_Earthly _plants, yes. I have no clue what any of this is." She scrunched her eyebrows. The idea of food poisoning and/or poisoning in general wasn't ideal in any situation, especially theirs. Still, they had to eat _something _or their strength would run out, even more so since they were injured and she was…

She sighed, looking everything over again. "I guess it's better than nothing though. I think Hunk's worked with similar stuff before. If we cook it over the fire, it should be fine."

It could've just been her, but she swore Lance gave her a weird look with her changing view. If he did though, it was only for a second, as he quickly began preparing a makeshift skillet. "Alrighty then. Let's get to it then. I'm starving."

It was silent for a few minutes as they began breaking up the larger pieces and throwing them over the fire, the sizzling reverberating off the cave walls.. Finally, to break the quiet, Pidge offered, "Thanks for getting all this, by the way. It probably wasn't easy with your leg."

"Nah, it's fine. You were much more suited to stay and work on the com than I was. Besides, it looked like you really weren't doing hot this morning."

He wasn't exaggerating. When she'd woken up, it felt like her body was shutting down. Her muscles ached and felt heavy, her eyes felt like they were collapsing in on themselves, she was sweating profusely, and her stomach was in knots. She was sure the only reason she hadn't actually gotten sick was because there was nothing to come out. Lance hadn't wanted to leave her by herself, but she'd somehow convinced him she'd be alright. She hadn't felt well for a few weeks anyway, and the crash was simply amplifying matters. Still, _her_ comfort was the least of her concerns at the moment….

"So, when were you planning on sharing that you're pregnant?"

His question slashed through their momentary silence, and she whipped her eyes up at him. He returned her gaze with one of brotherly concern, but also sternness. They held their visual standoff for what seemed like forever, but she was so shocked that she couldn't figure out a good cover up. "How did you know?"

"Pidge, I have three sisters - two of which have kids. I know," he deadpanned.

Her heartbeat returning to normal, she pursed her lips annoyingly. Was she really _that _obvious? "That's a little vague for my taste."

"Well, for starters, Hunk's been mentioning how you haven't been feeling well lately. Not a huge tip-off except for the fact that all the symptoms lined up and you're not one to get anything more than a cold. When we were at dinner the other night, you just drank just water, and you never drink water. You didn't drink coffee yesterday morning, which makes no sense out of context because you looked absolutely miserable the rest of the day. Also…" He'd actually seemed pretty proud of his detective skills up to this point, but now his playful demeanor was suddenly gone and his eyes regained that concerned look from earlier. "You might not know that you even did this, but the second the ship first got blasted, you immediately grabbed your stomach. I've caught you doing it a few times down here too."

At this comment, Pidge looked at the ground to avoid his eyes, feeling embarrassed that she'd so easily been seen through. She didn't remember shielding her stomach in that moment, and she certainly wasn't aware she'd been touching it so much. Even now, she suddenly found her hand resting on her lower abdomen, as if her subconscious felt the need to protect her unborn child whenever it was mentioned.

Unborn child…._God…_

"Hunk doesn't know, does he?" Lance asked. "There's no way he would've been okay with you going in a fighter."

"No." She felt so overwhelmed all of a sudden. "He doesn't know."

"But if I noticed something off with you, then he definitely has too."

"Yeah, but…" She recalled the worried glances her husband had been giving her the past few weeks and how he'd tucked her into bed and offered every sick remedy he could think of to make her feel better. "We've never really talked about something like this - it just never occurred to us. I didn't even consider it a possibility until the last second, so he probably thinks I'm just trying to be healthier."

"Quicknak, Pidge…" He scratched his head, looking overloaded. He stopped, however, and threw her a chastising glare. "Why on Earth did you go out and fight then?"

Good question. Why _did _she? The young woman thought for a second, and what she concluded made her feel awful. "I guess I just..._forgot_ at that moment. I just found out not too long ago myself and it still feels...so _unreal. _I've never thought about it before, but it's suddenly my reality. I've been either hyper aware or forgetful of the fact that there's a baby inside me - there's no in between. So, I just...went into autopilot. The ship was getting shot at and I knew we had to fight them off, so I took the leap. I didn't even think about it."

Her palm was practically glued to her stomach now. _I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry…._

"How far along are you?"

"No idea." This conversation, these questions - it felt so strange, so scary, that they were actually being spoken out loud and that she was on the receiving end, but, at the same time, she felt a weight being lifted off her shoulders to finally talk about what she'd been hiding the past couple of days. "I only found out on Tuesday."

Lance's eyes were now filled with sympathy and comfort. Speaking in a more genial tone, he inquired, "Does anyone else know besides the two of us?"

"Matt," she informed him, and a small smile actually formed at the memory. "He was there when I found out."

* * *

"_Hey." Pidge looked up from her computer to see her older brother leaning on her open office door. "I gotta go into the city to get something for Dad. You need anything?"_

"_No, I'm good," she said automatically. However, as he turned to leave, the suspicion that had been lingering in her mind suddenly sparked and her insides grew more heavy. "Actually, Matt…"_

_Stopping himself, he turned and looked at her expectedly. For some reason, seeing her brother's face like that made her ten times as nervous. She motioned for him to close the door, which he complied with, accompanied by a raised eyebrow and a somewhat concerned expression. As he came closer, she spoke shyly, "Can you get me a...test?"_

_He stared blankly at her. "You're gonna have to be more specific than that."_

"_You know…" She stood from her desk and went to meet him, though she wasn't sure why she felt the need to be quiet now with her door closed. Jittery, she met her brother's eyes. "A..._baby _test."_

_After a split tick of processing, Matt's eyes widened to the side of dinner plates. "Pidge, are you preg - "_

_Her hand shot forward, covering his mouth. "I'm not _sure. _That's why I need it." _

_After a still moment, she sighed and removed her hand, fully aware that she was asking a lot of him - it must have been weird for your little sister to ask you to get a pregnancy test. "Please."_

_His shocked expression remained for a few more seconds, but he nodded resolutely, flashing her a comforting smile. "I'll be back in about two hours."_

_Two-and-a-half hours later, the two of them were back in her office - Pidge sitting cross-legged in her chair, shaking her foot, whilst Matt was slowly pacing. Another minute or so and they'd know. She'd meant to take it once she'd gotten home, but upon receiving it decided that she couldn't wait that long. He had volunteered to stay with her, but Pidge found him more of a funny distraction than a comfort, since he looked just as nervous as she was._

_Feeling as if her nerves were about to burst, she stood. "There's no way I can look at it."_

_Matt managed a chuckle. "You know you won't be able to get anything done until you do." _

"_Yeah, you're right."_

_He turned to her, his face again showing brotherly concern. "What do you _want _it to say?"_

_His younger sister thought for a second. "I don't really know…"_

_Was her heart beating fast out of fear, excitement, or just not knowing? Her feelings seemed to change depending on the minute. For the past few days she'd been thinking about taking a test, about what she would do if it came back positive. There were so many conflicting ideas and emotions that she didn't even know how to sort them._

"_Well…" Her thoughts were broken by her brother placing his hands on her shoulders. "No matter what that says: I'm right here. Mom and Dad are right down the hall. So is Shiro. And Hunk's a call away. You have so many people that will be happy and excited for you whatever the outcome."_

_She smiled genuinely at him. Never once had he faltered in supporting her - not when they were kids, not during the war, and not now. "Thanks."_

* * *

"I bet that was a time," Lance commented, cracking a smile. He noticed that the veggies were finally beginning to simmer somewhat and began to stir them around.

"Yeah. I'm glad he was there. Honestly, I don't know how it would have gone if I was there by myself." She recalled how when they'd seen the results, she first just stared down at it in shock for the longest time, but before she knew it, she was actually grinning brightly. Matt, who'd been watching her wearily, immediately smiled lovingly and pulled her into a tight hug. In that embrace, she had so many things rush through her head. She was going to create a new life and bring it into the universe - a life that was the result of her and her best friend's love for each other and a culmination of all they'd been through. It was a life that could be loved by those she had loved before and explore further than she could've ever dared. Her child could be whoever they wanted to be in a universe that their parents had helped save and cultivate. It was so crazy, yet so exciting and _amazing._

"This is the strangest experience of my life," she admitted, giving out a low chuckle, "which I know is saying a lot. After the initial shock and excitement, the idea that there's a person inside me was so weird to even think about. Then, of course, I thought about the logistics and everything: what would I have to do, how were we gonna do it, how I was going to tell him, and…" Her heart grew a bit heavy. "I wondered if I was going to be good enough, you know, to go through with everything and to be motherly and be there for them, but then...I thought about the fact that it was Hunk's and mine, and I suddenly imagined him holding that tiny baby in his arms and smiling and being a goofball and…"

"Hey, hey…" Lance softly cut her off, and she realized that she'd begun to get choked up. He gave her a worried look, but she wiped the developing tears from her eyes and shot him a reassuring smile, the weight having lifted from her chest. "I'm already not liking the hormones."

This managed to lighten the mood and he laughed. Giving her a sincere grin, he offered, "I think there's been millions of people before you that have felt like that. You're not alone. And listen…" He moved closer to her and pointed to her stomach. "Yes, it is weird as quiznak that yours and Hunk's baby is in there right now and that the two of you are gonna be parents, cause in my head you're still that nerdy fifteen-year-old girl who I always beat at video games…"

She smirked. "The one who you thought was a boy and actually kicked your butt three times over?"

"That's beside the point! I'm trying to be sentimental!" He defended with a high squeal, his face scrunched up. Quickly calming down, he continued, "Like I was saying, it's weird. Weird, weird, weird. The fact that my two best friends are having a baby together is crazy...but it's also beautiful and amazing."

He sighed, letting it all sink in finally. "Pidge, you have the one of the most kind and passionate hearts of anyone I know. I think that's why you and Hunk gravitated so much toward each other in the first place. You've always been certain about what matters in your life, and when you care about something or someone, you're always there to defend them and make sure you don't lose them. Of course, that _did _sometimes get us into some hairy situations back in the day…"

Her friend said this completely teasingly, so she knew there was no shade in his comment. Still, when she looked back on it, he was absolutely right. When they were paladins, her determination to find Matt and her dad, while completely founded, had certainly put her and sometimes others in danger. Regardless, she chuckled. "Shut up."

"What I'm trying to say is: the fact that you're scared and worried is proof that you're going to be a freakin' incredible mom, and we both know Hunk's gonna be Super Dad right by your side. It doesn't matter that you don't know what you're doing yet. You love that baby, so you'll learn and you'll do great."

Pidge stared at him in awe for a second, so touched that she wasn't even sure what to say. Lance had definitely mellowed out since they were teenagers, but he was still so upbeat that it really made you listen when he got serious and sincere. His cheeks turned a bit red with embarrassment as she kept looking at him, and he quickly turned his attention back to their dinner. "So...yeah, don't sweat."

"Easy for you to say," she retorted jokingly. After a few seconds, she added, "Thanks."

"Hey, big bro Lance is always here for the motivational speeches."

The two of them shared a small laugh, proceeding to sit there in silence for a bit while Lance tended the fire and food. Eventually, a less-than-pleasant aroma began wafting in the area. Pidge cringed as the scent in her nose made her chest flare up with heartburn and her stomach to make all sorts of noises. She was sure if they could, the baby would be kicking in irritation. "That smell isn't helping my nausea much."

Lance didn't look too keen on the meal either. Making a sour face, he spooned some of it out of their makeshift pot and let it plop back down. "If it means anything, I volunteer as the sacrifice to try it so at least only one of us dies in vain." He sighed, placing the utensil down. The air coming from him suddenly became more somber. "Not the best pallet to honor Allura with."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that _is_ today…" They had crashed sometime yesterday, so the celebrations for Allura's Day were surely underway across the universe. Trying to lighten the mood, she said, "Well, I'm sure the others didn't start without us. I hope so, anyway…"

"Yeah…" He gazed blankly at the fire for a while, and Pidge glanced worriedly at him. Eventually, though, he managed a small smile. "Who knows? Maybe she decided to hang with us instead of at those lame parties."

"Maybe," she agreed. Allura's loss had always left complicated feelings with all of the paladins. They knew that her passing had been her choice and that she'd felt no pain, and they didn't really call it her death either - it was more like she'd simply joined her loved ones in a spiritual realm still connected to their physical reality. Regardless, it hurt that they had to spend all of these years growing together and achieving so much without her. The universe was becoming the reality the Altean princess had always wanted, and they weren't sure if she could see it or not. Pidge liked to think that her spirit was with them at celebrations and special occasions; she swore she even felt her presence at times, and the others had attested to this too. Ever since that day, they'd learned to deal with her absence, but the anniversary of that final battle was a celebration of her life and their success in addition to being a mourning for her leaving. They all still struggled at these times, especially Lance.

"I'm sorry we had to spend her day in a dump like this," she offered in apology.

This break actually made him give out a short laugh. "Hey, don't insult our beautiful new home like that. It wasn't your fault anyway. I'm just glad we're in this mess together. Now…"

More delighted than he should've been, given the contents, he spooned their dinner into their tiny metal containers, passing one to her, which she reluctantly took. Holding up his bowl, he grinned. "To Allura."

Pidge smiled, recognizing the annual toast their group usually did around the table. She held up her own bowl. "To Voltron."

"To our family."

"To our friends, present and not."

"To all living beings across the many planets and galaxies."

"To all that have ever lived and will live in this reality."

"And finally…"

They looked at each other to speak in unison and, raising their meals a bit higher, finished, "To the universe."

They left a beat afterward for effect, which was promptly ruined by the two of them busting out laughing.

"It's a little dumb with just us doing it," Pidge admitted.

"What are you talking about? It's cheesy and wonderful, and I love it."

The pair laughed again, only to be interrupted by a startling screeching sound, silencing them in their tracks. Both of them stiffened in attention, instantly looking around and listening intently for any sort of trouble. A few ticks later and it happened again, causing them to jump. Pidge whirled toward the sound to find it coming from the communicator. Her heart skipped a beat in realization as she nearly tripped scrambling to get to it. As she picked it up, it sounded again, only this time it was more staticy with a few breaks.

"Hello?" she called, staring at it hopefully as Lance came up behind her, looking nervous. "Is anyone there? This is…"

The static interrupted her, this time accompanied by what was clearly a distorted voice. "Pid….d...cop…..Lance?"

"Yes! Yes, we're here!"

There was silence for only a couple seconds, but it felt like an eternity to her. Finally, a familiar voice rang from the other side. "Pidge? Lance?"

"Hunk!" After the emotional roller coaster of a conversation she'd just had, her husband's voice sounded like music to her ears. "We read you!"

"Oh, thank God," The amount of relief in his mumble tightened her heart a bit. "Are you okay?"

"A few scraps and bumps, but we've managed," she assured him. She noticed that, without realizing it, she'd put her hand to her stomach again.

Lance flashed her a small smile and, feigning annoyance in his voice, said, "Yeah, we almost ate some very questionable vegetation, but besides that, we're doing alright."

"Sorry for the hold up," Keith was now addressing them. "We took moderate damage in a lot of areas, which sort of equaled out into a bit of a shut down."

"Yeah, that's what we figured," Lance replied, now serious.

"We've managed to pinpoint your com's location," Hunk explained. "Just stay where you are and we should be down in a couple minutes."

"Copy. We'll be here."

And just like that, the line went silent. The former green and blue paladins exchanged an overwhelmed look and let out a synchronized sigh of relief. They moved to quickly pack what little equipment they'd managed to salvage. As they made their way to the cave's entrance, Lance said, "One last thing…"

"What?" She looked at him questioningly.

"You better do a huge reveal at dinner or it's not gonna be worth it."

Laughing, she pushed him to the side a little bit, making him lose his balance. A few steps later, she replied, "Done."

* * *

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